Date Night
by Fettkat
Summary: Aaah...They grow up so fast, don't they? Young Ben gets relationship advice from Mom in a universe where Mara Jade never died...


Ben Skywalker stood in front of the full-length mirror in his parents' bedroom, applying the finishing touches to his outfit for the evening. He was dressed casually, in the typical fashion of a sixteen year old male, unbuttoned check shirt over t-shirt tucked into faded blue jeans, paired with fashionable loafers. He managed to pull off the high school teenage-jock look pretty successfully, appearing casually handsome as he slicked some hair gel onto his red-gold mop so it wouldn't seem quite as unruly as it usually did. The t-shirt served to emphasize his buff physique and Ben made no effort to hamper the desired effect. He stepped back to admire himself for a minute, just at the moment his mother walked in.

Mara Jade Skywalker stopped short at the unusual sight of her son preening himself in front of her bedroom mirror.

"Ben?" she queried, making no attempt at hiding her astonishment.  
"What are you doing?"

Ben turned towards her with an easy smile.  
"Oh hey, Mom. Nothing. Just got a date for the evening. So, you know, good first impression and all!"

Mara's eyebrows shot up.  
"A date?" she almost squeaked.

Ben frowned slightly.  
"Uh... yeah. You know, with a girl?"

Mara felt the sudden need to sit down. Somehow it had never seemed to occur to her that her son had gotten old enough to be dating.

She swallowed uncomfortably.  
"So... ummm...who is she? This...girl?"

"She's the daughter of a Senator. I met her when I was visiting the Senate chambers with Aunt Leia the other day. We got talking. She seemed nice, so I asked her out to dinner. Her name's Lyanna."

Mara found herself looking at her son with new eyes.  
_When had he become such a charming, confident Casanova?!_

Ben was smiling excitedly. He bent down to give his mother a quick peck on the cheek.  
"So I'll see you, k, Mom? Don't wait up!"

She didn't even register the slamming of the apartment door.

That was how Luke found her, almost half an hour later when he entered their bedroom, with something akin to a shell-shocked expression adorning her face.

"Mara?"

He sat down next to her, wrapping an arm gently around her shoulders, concerned.  
"Is something wrong?"

For a moment, no words came out of her mouth. Finally, miserably, she mumbled,  
"He-he's gone, Luke."

Her husband frowned.  
"Who's gone?"

"Ben."

"Where?"

"On-on-", she had to choke out the word," a date!"

Luke had to duck his head to hide the smirk.  
"Really?"

Mara nodded forlornly.  
"With some girl he met with Leia."

"Well! Atleast it's a girl!"

Mara seemed to realize her husband was pulling her leg. She suddenly turned and angrily punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Mara! That hurt!"

Luke ruefully rubbed his shoulder.  
"He's the one growing up! You don't have to take it out on me! I'm just the one growing old! I even bumped into him shaving the other day, did you know that?"

Mara looked disgruntled.  
"I didn't give him permission to grow up", she muttered, sniffing grumpily.  
"Not so soon."

Luke tentatively put his arm around her again, and pulled her closer when she didn't resist.  
"Well, sweetheart, I guess that's a risk we agreed to take the day we had him."

* * *

Ben let himself into the darkened apartment as quietly as possible, expecting everyone to have gone to bed.

"You're late."

He nearly jumped at the dry voice emanating from the direction of the couch.

"Stang! Mom!" he swore.  
"I-I thought you'd gone to bed."

"Well, as you can see, I haven't. Come. Sit." she said, patting the seat beside her.

Ben walked over reluctantly.  
"Am I in trouble?" he grumbled.  
"I did tell you I was going out."

Mara sighed.  
"No, you're not in trouble. Not exactly."

Ben arched his eyebrows at the figure still sitting half in shadows beside him.  
"Not exactly? What's that supposed to mean, Mom?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

Ben stiffened.  
"Mom..." he interposed cautiously.  
"Nothing happened tonight, alright? We just caught a holofilm, had some dinner and I dropped her home. That's it, I swear! Besides, you guys have already had "the Talk" with me, remember?"

Mara smiled in the dark.  
"I know that, sweetheart. So will you be seeing her again?"

Ben fidgeted uncomfortably.  
"I dunno. I'll comm her, I guess."

"Did you two have a good time?"

"Sure..."

Ben was growing increasingly edgy with his mom quizzing him about details from his date. She appeared to catch his trend of thought.

"I don't mean to pry, Ben," she said, gently.  
"I just want you to remember to be careful, that's all."

Ben tried to make out her features by the stray light from passing speeders outside, but couldn't entirely.

"I know you think it's fun and cool right now, son."

Mara's tone was still unusually gentle. He didn't know if that was what unsettled him more.

"But relationships are matters of the heart. Which is why you have to be extremely careful. So that no one gets hurt in the process. I just want to make sure you don't do anything that you'll only end up regretting later. You're still so young. You don't want to get burned just yet, trust me."

"Mom-"  
He struggled to explain himself.  
"She knows I'm a Jedi. It's nothing serious. I told her this may not go anywhere, right at the start. I mean, yeah, we like each other, I guess, but... it was just a first date, Mom. You really don't need to worry about it."

Mara looked at him sympathetically. In the dim flashes of light passing through the room, her son's face looked even more boyish and youthful.  
_He's still just a kid_, she thought.

"Ben," she continued, patiently, "Your being a Jedi doesn't necessarily mean it won't go anywhere. That's a decision only the two of you can take, in the end. And it's never 'just a date.' It was an experience. For the both of you. Don't pretend like it didn't mean anything. Because I'll tell you right now, that that's not cool. I've already told you, these are matters of the heart. It's never going to be quite so easy to keep under control. You can't hide behind words, Ben. And you shouldn't. If you feel that something you do might possibly end up hurting someone, don't do it. It's not worth the thrill if you only end up breaking someone's heart."

Ben's eyes were wide.  
"I-I'd never- ! Mom! We're not exactly in _love!_ I wouldn't be _breaking her heart!_"

Mara shifted in her seat.  
"All I'm saying is don't start something that you're not willing to finish, Ben. Be mindful of your actions. I don't want you becoming the kind of boy who simply toys with people's affections as if they don't matter. That's just downright disrespectful and we didn't raise you that way."

"Mom," Ben's voice was soft.  
"She's leaving for Contruum tomorrow. For all I know, I may never even see her again. She said her Dad's job takes them all over the galaxy. I think we both know this isn't going to go anywhere even if we want it to."

Mara ran her hand gently through his hair, looking at his hunched figure sympathetically.  
"Do you want it to go anywhere?"

He shrugged.  
"Dunno. Look, Mom, I-I know you're right. Hurting someone is never cool, but... I don't want to end up getting hurt either."

Mara thought to herself she would probably rip the head off any girl who tried to hurt her precious little boy.

"Isn't it always better if you just, you know, test the ice first? See where it goes and then decide?"

Mara smiled a little sadly.  
"Oh if things only worked out that easily, sweetheart! Ben, I won't guarantee that love won't ever hurt you. In all probability it will. It's hurt all of us. But real love is the love that's worth it despite the pain. That's worth fighting for. You shouldn't trivialize it by fooling around with each and every pretty girl you meet. That will only lead to a lot of unnecessary bad blood you'd rather avoid. You'll know, the day you find the one you're meant to be with. And that's the one that'll mean the most and end up being the most special relationship in your life."

Ben smiled at his mom weakly.  
"Yeah...I guess you're right, Mom. Thanks for the pep talk!"

His mother's eyes twinkled.  
"Hey. I'm your mom. That's my job."

Ben smirked.  
"Oh? I thought your job was telling me to take a bath, and eat my vegetables, and not get flight grease on the carpets!"

"And how to behave on a date."

"And how to behave on a date", he agreed.

Mara pulled him forward to land a kiss on his forehead.  
"Don't grow up too fast, sweetheart. I don't think I'm quite ready for it yet."

Ben hopped up from the couch, flashing her a grin.  
"Sorry, Mom. That just comes pre-installed in a dashing Jedi son!"

* * *

Luke was up early and brewing the caf when Ben walked into the kitchen, yawning hugely.

"Morning," his father greeted him cheerily.

"Grmphhg."

"So how was the date last night? Heard you got home pretty late."

"S'right. Heard it from the welcoming committee, did ya?"

"Hey it was either her or me."

Ben shuddered.  
"No thanks, Dad. You don't do so well on the giving life advice front. Look how yours turned out!"

Luke heaved a melodramatic sigh.  
"That's right. Sith Lords, Death Stars, ungrateful offspring."

Ben smirked.  
"Come on, I don't give you such a hard time."

"Actually? You were the worst of the lot! I didn't have to try putting either Vader or Palpatine  
to bed!"

His son's smirk only widened.

"So your mom talk to you?"

"Yeah."

This time it was Luke's turn to smirk.  
"And is your girlfriend still alive?"

Ben's eyes twinkled.  
"Barely!"

They shared the silence for a moment.

"Well? So what did she say?"

Ben raised his eyebrows.  
"What? Apart from chicks with blasters can kill you, don't trust them?"

"Damn! If only I'd remembered that!"

"Yeah, then you'd only be a wizened old Grand Master living on a soggy, stinky planet eating worm stew and celibate for life!"

Luke reached over to cuff him soundly on the side of the head.

"So hey, Dad? Mind if I ask you something?"

His father regarded him warily.

"How many girlfriends did you have before Mom?"

He shrugged nonchalantly.  
"Oh, 'bout five or so... and then there were a few on the side!" *

Ben gagged on his caf, his blue eyes round in frank amazement.  
"What?!"

Luke smiled into his mug.  
"Why? Is that so hard to believe?"

Ben snorted.  
"You got around despite a bowl-cut hairstyle?! That's rich!"

"It wasn't just the hair, you know."

"Right. It was the farmboy charm you're always claiming snagged Mom."

Luke looked smug.

Ben appraised him, still shaking his head.  
"Whatever, Dad. I still think you mind-tricked them into it."

"Oh no, that was only the last resort!"

Ben rolled his eyes, but grinned nevertheless.

Mara walked in, fresh from a sanisteam, to join her men, towelling her wet hair and moving towards the caf dispenser. She regarded her completely dishevelled son disapprovingly as she bent to kiss her husband.

"Sometimes I think we gave birth to a Hutt rather than a human being."

Ben made a face.  
"Aww, c'mon, Mom! It's still too early for that. Besides, I'm on vacation."

"What vacation?!" his father exclaimed, incredulously.  
"Jedi don't have vacations! You're due back at the Temple before noon!"

Ben scowled.  
"Slave -driver," he muttered.  
Aloud he said, "Well, then I'm going back to bed. Master Sebatyne might just eat me this time if she catches me dozing off during meditation!"

He slouched out of the kitchen.

Luke waved a hand in the direction of their departing son.

"And you were afraid he was growing up."

Mara shook her head.  
"We should have had a girl. Then I could have sat back and watched you dealing with the boyfriends."

Luke shuddered.  
"Please, love. I've seen what Han had to go through with Jaina. Suffice it to say, I'm more than happy to let you handle the teenage-hormone phase on your own. Wake me up after he moves out!"

**THE END**

* * *

***** Information courtesy Wookiepedia and much debate! The ones I'm counting are Callista, Gaeriel, Akanah Goss Pell, Shira Brie/Lumiya and Jem Ysanna. Others listed on Wookieepedia fall into the category of 'on the side'. And Leia doesn't count!


End file.
